Houthi crimes: Innocent Yemenis pay price for American decision (Part 3)

Mahmoud al-Batakoushi

Despite the crimes committed by the Houthi group in Yemen over the past six years, the new US administration has granted it a safety card after canceling the militia’s classification as a terrorist organization, which was a strong push for the militia to commit more heinous crimes against the innocent.

During the past few days, Yemen has witnessed an increase in the frequency of targeting civilians and civilian facilities. Despite the coalition forces thwarting Houthi missiles and drones, some of the shrapnel hit civilians and homes.

The decision to cancel the designation of the militia as a terrorist organization gave Iran and the Houthis the conviction that the administration of US President Joe Biden would not use any kind of force against them, since the United States canceled former President Donald Trump’s designations of the militia as a foreign terrorist organization, claiming that this step comes for humanitarian aid to reach the Yemeni people. However, this did not change the behavior of the terrorist militia, as it has intensified its attacks with missiles and drones on civilians and civilian facilities.

Although the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen intercepted and destroyed hundreds of missiles and aircraft before targeting civilians, the attempts of the Houthi terrorist militia to attack civilians in a deliberate and systematic manner constitute war crimes, and therefore the joint forces command of the coalition takes and implements the necessary operational measures to protect civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law and customary rules.

The protection of civilians is a fundamental pillar of international humanitarian law. Armed conflicts are governed by international humanitarian law, which calls for the protection of civilians and not to expose them to harm, while violations of the law are considered “war crimes”.

Several countries described the repeated terrorist acts carried out by the Houthis as a “war crime that endangers the lives of civilians,” requiring them to be held accountable in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Fifty-six Yemeni civil society organizations condemned the silence of the international community towards the crimes of the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militia and its targeting of refugee camps and residential neighborhoods in Marib governorate, which has caused the death and injury of civilians, including women and children.

Human rights organizations confirmed in several reports that Houthis’ crimes increased dramatically after the new US administration made the mistake by removing the militia from the terrorist list, as Houthi practices are not different from the practices of other terrorist organizations and groups around the world. The decision to cancel the classification encourages the militia to escalate and intensify its arrest campaigns against human rights defenders and activists in Sanaa and militia-controlled areas.

The human rights organizations called on the Biden administration to reconsider, especially since the Houthi militia escalated its military attacks in the governorates of Marib and Al-Jawf, as well as violations against human rights in their areas of control. Therefore, the US administration’s removal of the Houthis from the terrorist list did not solve the humanitarian crisis that has occurred for years, but rather increased and complicated it, meaning the militia should be redesignated a terrorist organization.